Social research & statistics

Drawing on evidence from across Europe, Asia and the USA, this accessible book covers how social workers can engage with research and draw on it in practice.

This collection explores the roles of emotion, violence, uncertainty, identity and positionality in doing research in and on conflict zones, as well as the complexity of methodological choices. It presents a nuanced view of conflict research that addresses the uncomfortable spaces of conflict research and the need for reflection on these issues.

Mapping environmental sustainability explains the development of visual mapping techniques with practical case studies that describe their application in environmental sustainability projects, from working with farmers and their networks to using visual mapping with indigenous communities and managing coastal environments.

This practitioner-oriented text is the first to help social researchers define research projects, manage the social research process, engage with stakeholders and influence change. It will be invaluable for all those commissioning, managing and conducting social research.

Universities are increasingly taking an active role as research collaborators with citizens, public bodies, and community organisations but they, their funders and institutions struggle to articulate the value of this work. This book addresses the key challenges in collaborative research in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

This revised edition uses extensive updated research and survey evidence to challenge the view of 'skivers versus strivers', showing how much our lives vary not just as we age, but from week-to-week and year-to-year.

Demystifying evaluation is an accessible introductory guide explaining the options open to evaluators and how to make appropriate choices of research methods and covering issues such as managing expectations of evaluation, quantitative and qualitative methods, engaging stakeholders and providing action-orientated approaches to help end-users.

This book provides social science researchers with both a strong rationale for the importance of thinking reflexively and a practical guide to doing it. The first book to build on Pierre Bourdieu's reflexive work, it combines academic analysis with practical examples and case studies. The book will be of interest to researchers and students.

This is the first book to take a radical approach to socially just, community centred research. Challenging traditional models for conducting social science research within marginalized populations, it examines the relationships between research, knowledge construction, and political power/legitimacy in society.

Researching the Lifecourse features methods linking time, space and mobilities and provides practitioners with practical detail in each chapter. It covers the full lifecourse and includes innovative methods and case study examples from different European and North American contexts.

This book examines the nature of participatory research in the social sciences and its role in increasing participation among vulnerable or marginalised populations. It examines the ways in which inclusion and collaboration in research can be enhanced among vulnerable participants, and shows how useful it can be with these groups.

In examining how our identity shapes the knowledge we produce, Mental health service users in research considers ways of 'doing research' which bring multiple understandings together effectively, and explains the sociological use of autobiography and its relevance.